A need exists for compounds which inhibit the enzyme dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH). Research in the area of enzymatic inhibition has provided evidence that DBH facilitates the conversion of dopamine to norepinephrine in mammals. Inhibition of the enzyme (DBH) causes a decrease in the amount of norepinephrine produced which in turn effectuates, among other things, a lowering of blood pressure. DBH inhibitors are of value in the treatment of DBH mediated conditions such as, for example, hypertension.
Fluoro-substituted compounds are of interest due to their importance as pharmaceutical agents and as probes for understanding various metabolic and enzymatic processes. For example, P. Bey, et al, have disclosed 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-fluoroallylamine, which is active as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, in J. Med. Chem., 27, 9 (1984), and M. Kolb, ',uns/et al/ , have reported on monofluoroethenyl-GABA derivatives which are active as GABA-transaminase inhibitors, in J. Med. Chem., 30, 267 (1987).
Although 2-bromo- and 2-chloro-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-propene compounds have been reported to be mechanism-based inhibitors of DBH in J. Biol. Chem., 259, No.11, 6925 (1984), apparently no vinyl fluoride compounds that are active as DBH inhibitors have heretofore been disclosed.